Houston has a lot of history regarding black culture, and I believe this should be celebrated, so what better way to celebrate than dining out at some of the most amazing black-owned brunch spots in Houston?
You’ll be glad to know that there are so many black-owned restaurants within Houston, so no matter what kind of cuisine you prefer, there is something for everyone to enjoy. The question is, which ones serve the best brunch?
Below I’ve highlighted what I believe to be the very best Black-owned establishments for eating brunch in Houston.
Best Brunch from Black-Owned Restaurants in Houston
During this guide, I will be looking at every creative aspect of each restaurant to ensure that you get exactly what you’re looking for when it comes to southern cuisine and black-owned brunch spots in Houston.
I have researched the quality of their food, price ranges, and locations, and also learned a bit about some of their histories.
I’ve got you covered whether you like a classical breakfast-style brunch or something more extravagant and unusual.
So let’s check out some of the best brunches from black-owned restaurants in Houston, Texas.
1. Lucille’s
| Address: | 5512 La Branch St, Houston, TX 77004 |
| Website: | www.lucilleshouston.com |
| Food: | Salad, fried green tomatoes, chili biscuits, chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits |
| Our Recommendation: | Oxtail Omelete |
Lucille’s is a popular southern restaurant right in the heart of Houston. It first opened in 2012 and has forever since been growing in popularity, welcoming guests old and new on a daily basis to share in their love of soul food and history.
The restaurant is owned by two brothers who dedicated the initial idea behind it to their great-grandmother, who was an entrepreneur in the culinary world. Today, the brothers use some of her traditional recipes to replicate some of her favorite and most loved dishes and share them with the people of Houston.
The restaurant is open Tuesday – Thursday from 11:00 – 3:00/4:00 – 9:00, Friday and Saturday from 11:00 – 3:00/5:00 – 10:00, and Sunday is for brunch only 10:00 am – 3:00 pm.
There is a lot to choose from on the brunch menu, ranging from classic southern dishes to popular American plates.
My personal recommendation was the Oxtail omelet. Although I would advise you to ensure you’re hungry before ordering this one, as it’s certainly not a dish that sits lightly on the stomach. It’s extremely rich and full of flavor, consisting of pulled oxtails, caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese, and served with a crispy onion salad and braising jus.
Other items on the brunch menu include the shrimp and grits, served with andouille and sherry tomato broth, the croissant french toast spiked with berries, and the country benedict, which consists of chicken, fried egg, bacon, collard greens, and hollandaise sauce.
If you want a vegetarian/vegan option, I recommend the watermelon salad, which comes with iced red onions, baby arugula, crushed pistachios, and ginger lemon vinaigrette.
The prices are slightly high-end but won’t break the bank, and because of the quality of the food and the standard of presentation, you can appreciate where your money is being spent. The main courses cost between $14.00 and $26.00, and my recommendation was middle-ground at $19.00.
They also have a brunch cocktail menu, with offerings such as bloody mary, a woke punch, and an el Maton passion, which is cognac, triple sec, lemon juice, and agave.
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2. Lost and Found
| Address: | 160 W Gray, Houston, TX 77019 |
| Website: | www.lostandfoundmidtown.com |
| Food: | Cobb salad, wings, lobster, crab cakes, ribs, crawfish bread, cajun pasta |
| Our Recommendation: | Lobster Cajun Pasta |
Lost and Founds brings something entirely different to Houston. Although brunch isn’t what they specialize in, they are open at 11:00 am on weekends, so as long as you don’t mind skipping out on the classical brunch dishes, I highly recommend visiting this place.
The colors and decor of the restaurant give it an enjoyable vibe, the staff are upbeat and very informative about the menu, and they have a fantastic outdoor seating area on their patio, which makes for a truly unique dining experience. Overall, you’re guaranteed a memorable morning.
This place can get quite busy during peak times, weekends especially, so it’s worth making a reservation, or you can end up queuing down the street, though to be honest, I would say it’s worth the wait.
The prices are reasonable, and if you visit on a Tuesday, you can get a great deal on chicken wings for only 50 cents.
The general pricing on the main menu is anything from $8.00 to $45.00. But the higher-priced dishes are items such as lobster which you expect to pay more for. Generally, you can dine here on a budget and come out feeling full.
The portion sizes are great, too, including the side dishes; a potion of parmesan fries, for example, would easily feed 3-4 people.
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3. Kiss
| Address: | Sawyer Yards, 2313 Edwards Street, Ste 100, Houston, TX 77007 |
| Website: | www.kissrestaurant.com |
| Food: | Chicken and waffles, caesar salad, Nola benedict, crab beignets, avocado toast, omelets, steak and eggs, brunch burger |
| Our Recommendation: | Short Rib Hash |
Kiss restaurant is a black-owned, up-market restaurant in the heart of Houston. On Saturdays and Sundays, they have a terrific brunch menu available, full of some lovely and unique dishes and some popular favorites.
The decor here is beautifully classy, gives the place a chic ambiance, and makes you feel like you’re in an exclusive restaurant while remaining warm and casual. They also have a dress code that doesn’t allow sportswear.
Don’t worry, though; you don’t need to head out and buy anything too formal, just smart-casual.
Regarding the food, they have some fantastic choices. I went for the beef short rib hash, slow-braised and super tender, served with roasted red peppers, onions, Brussel sports, hollandaise sauce, and potatoes. They also have a great grits menu, with four options: lobster tail and jerk-spiced lamb chops.
Coming to the prices, it’s up there with the high-end restaurants, with the brunch dishes costing between $22.00 and $45.00, so perhaps somewhere you want to save for a special occasion. Still, considering the decor, service, and food quality, I would say it’s well worth the money.
4. Taste Bar + Kitchen
| Address: | 3015 Bagby Street, Houston, TX 77006 |
|---|---|
| Website: | www.tastebarkitchen.com |
| Food: | Speciality waffles, mac, and cheese, cajun chicken, jerk lamb chops, oxtails, and grits |
| Our Recommendation: | Peach cobbler waffles |
Located in Midtown, Taste Bar + Kitchen is a southern restaurant offering classical comfort food and a casual environment.
One of the things that they are most famous for is their extensive waffles menu, which consists of toppings such as chocolate chip, sweet potato waffles, cinnamon toast, fruity pebble, and pecan praline.
There are also savory items such as cornbread and biscuit waffles which you can have topped with cheese and bacon for an extra cost.
They also have an elevated chicken and waffle menu, with options such as jerk chicken, grilled chicken, buffalo chicken, and chicken-fried lobster.
My recommendation was the Oxtails and Grits, which are only available on the Sunday brunch menu. The portion size was great, and the meat and grits were cooked perfectly with excellent seasoning.
Prices are great, the waffles all cost $8.00, and the elevated chicken and waffles are all just $15.00 for a large plate.
If you or someone in your group is looking for a veggie option, you must try the truffle smoked gouda mac and cheese. It costs just $12.00 and is a satisfying plate of food.
I would strongly suggest booking a table here before you visit because they tend to get extremely busy, and you can end up waiting a long wait if you haven’t reserved a table.
5. Drunken Corner
| Address: | 517 Berry Road, Northside Vision, Houston, TX 77022 |
|---|---|
| Website: | www.instagram.com/drunkencornerhtx |
| Food: | French toast sliders, jerk lamb chops, crab cakes, fried chicken, country breakfast, dirty rice |
| Our Recommendation: | Country Breakfast |
Now, let’s talk about something new, up and coming. The drunken corner is still building its business and reputation; however, they’re bound to go far because the food they’re serving is impressive.
The only downside I found with these restaurants is the location. It’s a bit in the middle of nowhere, and parking can be difficult. Also, you can’t make a reservation at the moment, meaning they work on a first-come, first-serve basis.
This can result in you waiting in line for a while during busy times, but they give you the option to go away and come back when you receive a text telling you that your table is ready.
They have a large outdoor seating area, a great spot to enjoy your brunch on a Saturday morning in the sunshine. They do also have some indoor seating, but this is quite limited.
The food here was excellent, as well as reasonably priced.
But one thing I did note is that the menu was relatively small, this could be because they’re just testing the waters with being a new establishment, but even so, the dishes they did have were well executed and full of flavor.
So it’s definitely worth giving this up-and-coming black-owned restaurant a chance.
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6. Prey
| Address: | 1700 Post Oak Blvd, Ste 290, Houston, TX 77056 |
| Website: | www.preyhouston.com |
| Food: | Oxtail, grits, waffles, crab hash, gumbo, nachos, fondue, surf, and turf |
| Our Recommendation: | Watermelon Chicken and Waffles |
Prey is a black-owned, multi-cultural restaurant in Houston whose vision is to create fantastic food and a welcoming environment for all its guests. Their main aim is to give their customers a memorable dining experience by showing their dedication to service and ambiance.
The one thing that stood out to me the most about Prey is the staff’s presence, and attention to detail regarding the service they provide from start to finish, and they make you feel as though nothing is too much bother.
So, getting down to the food. The menu itself is pretty limited but by no means short of decent dishes to choose from.
There are seven items on the brunch menu, and I decided to go for the Watermelon Chicken and Waffles, mainly because it stood out to me as something I’d never tried before. I wasn’t disappointed.
The waffles were perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside, sweet, and fluffy on the inside. They were topped with fried chicken and watermelon cream. The flavor combination worked better than I imagined, and I highly recommend it if you want to try something new.
If, however, you want to try something a little more familiar, you might want to get the pound cake French toast, which is topped with berries and cream and tastes delicious.
Prey is relatively high when it comes to pricing. The brunch dishes range in price from $17.00 to $35.00.
The opening times for brunch here are Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
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7. Esther’s Cajun Cafe & Soul Food
| Address: | 5007 N Shepherd, Independence Heights, Houston, TX 77018 |
| Website: | www.estherscajunsoul.com |
| Food: | Tilapia, fried fish, steak, spaghetti, pork chops, turkey wings, mac and cheese, etouffee, gumbo |
| Our Recommendation: | Cajun Fried Shrimp |
Esther’s cajun cafe follows strong traditions of soulful family cooking and has pride in country recipes. Since being a young child, Esther has known that she would one day run an establishment dedicated to soul food and exceptional cooking.
The feeling that you get when you step into Esther’s cafe is one of welcome. It feels very family-oriented and authentic.
All the dishes served here are prepared and cooked from scratch using high-quality ingredients, which are clear from the very first bite.
I decided to go for a classical dish for my brunch, which was the cajun fried shrimp on the bar bites menu, they only cost $12.00, and this was for six large, super juicy shrimp, which were super fresh, and tossed in a spicy house sauce.
If you’re looking for a budget meal or something light and low-priced and you’re a bit late for brunch, then I recommend you head on down there during their happy hour, which is every day between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm, when all of the light bite dishes are only $6.00.
This includes dishes such as Esther’s bar burgers, oxtail egg rolls, and cajun chicken wings.
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In Summary
So, as I have noted, some fabulous southern and sole restaurants across Houston are black-owned and serve some fantastic brunch dishes. Hopefully, in this guide, one or more of them has caught your eye.
If this has been informative to you and you’d like to hear more about places to eat and drink in Houston, then you should head over and take a look at 5 Unique Themed Restaurants in Houston and 8 Best Mediterranean Restaurants in Houston.